Officials say buses here safe

Posted: Monday, October 11, 2010

By Ryan Blackburn

Local school district transportation officials say parents should feel confident their children are safe when they catch the school bus.

"Kids - that's our business, and we want to get them to school safe and safely off at home, too," said Duane Vanderkooi, who oversees transportation for the 6,000 students who ride to and from Oconee County Schools every day.

A fatal school bus crash last week in Carroll County involving a driver who lacked proper certification drew attention to bus driver training all over the state.

A 17-year-old was killed, and 13 students were injured when the bus overturned last Monday. A bus driver trainee who didn't have the state-mandated credentials was behind the wheel.

"It's a very unfortunate accident," said Cathy Benson, transportation director for the Clarke County School District. "Our hearts go out to the family members of those students and Carroll County."

In Georgia, school bus drivers must have a commercial driver's license with a P endorsement that allows them to drive a vehicle with 16 or more people on board, and an S endorsement that permits them to drive a school bus.

To get those endorsements, new drivers must pass a written test and also complete a road test under the supervision of a third-party, state-certified trainer.

In addition, the state Board of Education requires bus drivers to have at least 12 hours of classroom training, which includes CPR and emergency response skills, six hours of driving an empty bus and six hours of driving students with a trainer.

Clarke schools don't allow trainees to begin driving with students on board until they have all of their endorsements, Benson said.

"We won't even let them in the door without those endorsements," she said. "Our saying around here is, 'S means students,' and if you don't have an S on your license, you don't drive students in a bus."

Training can take up to 35 hours, depending on the driver, Benson said.

Even before that, bus driver applicants must pass criminal background checks and physicals, she said.

In both Clarke and Oconee counties, newly trained drivers face two-week trial periods in which they are evaluated by state-certified testers and other staff before they can drive solo on a route.

"Before they ever drive a route, they will go on a route with a qualified trainer, and everything they do is documented," Vanderkooi said. "We don't just put them on a route. They ride with other people to learn these routes, so if they have to fill in, they have a good idea of what a driver does and what direction they go."

Veteran bus drivers also are required to satisfy state training requirements once a year, Vanderkooi said.

"A tester rides with them at least once through the year to see that they don't get what we call 'complacent,' that they're doing all their duties, and then we also take them back to the (driving) range," Vanderkooi said. "I don't care if they've been here 20 years, they go to the range and do the same thing again."

Buses also are inspected by drivers before every route and monthly by certified mechanics to ensure they are safe and in good working order, he said.